From Admiration to Inspiration

By Laurel Carbonneau

Posted Aug 17, 2017 in Labs & Profiles

About 20 years ago, ceramist and professional photographer Naoki Aiba was inspired by the vibrant, colorful photos of cross-sectioned teeth in Voyage, a book by Ceramist Claude Sieber, MDT. Aiba—Owner of Science Art, Inc., in Monterey, CA and Oral Design Center Monterey—started doing some research and began perfecting his technique and publishing his own iridescent tooth photographs.


At LMT’s Art in the Park, he exhibited the photo he considers his strongest: Flame (shown here), a cross section of a lower canine that has been published many times, including in Quintessence of Dental Technology.


Here’s how the photo was created: using an extracted natural tooth, Aiba ground the width of the tooth to the thickness of a business card. Since there can’t be any ambient light when taking the photo, Aiba waited until nighttime then used a back corner of his lab as a makeshift studio, placing...

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About The Author

  • Laurel Carbonneau

    Associate Editor at LMT Communications, Inc. · Bethlehem, CT

    With an eye for detail and exceptional proofreading skills, Laurel, a 11-year veteran of LMT, edits numerous sections of the magazine, writes feature articles and is our editorial webmaster.

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  • Dale Bischof Image
    Dale Bischof · Meridian, ID

    Naoki is incredible, I loved taking his series of Dentscape Continuum courses once offered (still offered?) at his beautifully modern lab overlooking the ocean of Monterrey Bay. Naoki is a kind man, a true artist, and an excellent teacher, and to know that Lucas is a fellow admirer of Naoki's work makes...[More]

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